Soundproof building construction



May 22, 1956 A. M. ToFANl, .JR

SOUNDPROOF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 19, 1954 www United StatesPatent O SOUNDPROOF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Arthur M. Tofani, Jr.,Philadelphia, Pa.

Application July 19, 1954, Serial No. 444,027

2 Claims. (Cl. 20-2) One object of the invention is to produce animproved sound proof construction and an improved method of sound-proongthe same.

Another object is Ato produce an improved construction which is easy andinexpensive to put up.

A still further object is to produce an improved soundproof constructionwhich can be used in the erection of a new building as well as in theremodeling of the old buildings,

The full nature of the invention is set forth in the followingspeciication and in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary View partly in vertical section and partly inperspective showing a building construction embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 2 2 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 on Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on line 5-5 on Fig. l.

In the drawing there is shown a floor formed of slats supported bygirders 12. In order to reduce the transmission of noise or soundupwardly, or downwardly, through the floor, the girders are formed of anupper beam 14, a central beam 16 and a lower beam 18. The upper andlower sides of beam 16 are separated from upper and lower beams 14 and16 by sound insulating material such as rubber, felt, or the like 20.Also, beams 14 and 18 are provided with grooves 22 which are adapted tobe engaged by tongues 24 formed on the corresponding sides of centralbeam 16. It will be noted that the insulating material is thus clampedin position between the tongues and grooves referred to.

ln order to reduce the lateral transmission of sound, that is from oneroom to another on the same door, I construct the studding whichsupports the partition in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 3. As shown inthese figures, each stud is made of two pieces 26 and 28, one of whichhas a groove 30 adapted to be engaged by a tongue 32. The tongue 32 andgroove 30 extend the entire height of the partition and are separated bysound insulating material 34. In order to reduce sound transmissionthrough iloor slats 10 and upper beam 14 of the girder supporting, orresting upon, the studding, the upper beam 14 is gouged out to form arecess 35 which underlies, or overlies, the ends of stud members 26 and2S and is filled with insulating material 37. This reduces soundtransmission along the path delineated by the arrow in Fig. 3.

It has heretofore been proposed to reduce the transmission of sound fromone room to an adjoining room in a horizontal direction, or through thepartition separating said rooms by fastening the panels of one side ofthe partition to one set of vertical studs and fastening the panels ofthe other side of the partition to another set of vertical studs', saidsets of studs being wholly separate or unconnected. In order not todouble the thickness of 2,746,097 Patented May 22, 1956 ICC thepartition, the studs of one set are interdigitated, or interlaced, withthe studs of the other set.

According to the building code, horizontally disposed sills which serveas fire stops must be used so as' to divide the space defined by theopposite sides of the partition into separate compartments to slow downthe upward progress of iire. Without such fire stops', the space betweenthe opposite sides of a partition will act as a flue. But, if the studsto which the opposite sides of the partition are secured areinterdigitated, as above set forth, the horizontal re stops cannot beused and the interdigitation of the studs divides the space between theopposite sides of the partition into a number of vertical flues whichincreases the flue or draft elect. Furthermore, when the fire stops areused the opposite walls of the partition can be secured to the stops asWell as to the studs, thus making for a sturdier construction. In otherwords, the horizontal sills serve both as re stops and as braces for thepartitions.

According to the code, a ire stop must be used between the studs so asto interrupt the space between the opposite partition walls which spacewould otherwise serve as a ue and will hasten the upward spread of tire.

This tire stop also serves as a brace to stiften the partitions. When,in order to reduce the transmission of sound, the studding is staggered,the re stops' referred to can not be conveniently used and the resultingpartitions will constitute a tire hazard and will not be suiciently sti.

According to my invention, the combined lire stop and brace is formed oftwo parts 36 and 38 which are secured, at their opposite ends to studs26 and 28 respectively. The abutting faces of parts 36 and 38 arepreferably provided with a tongue and groove arrangement like that shownin Fig. 2 and are separated by the same type of insulation 34.

It will be seen from Fig. l parts 36 of the horizontal sill help supportone side of a partition and parts 38 help support the other side of thepartition and that the insulation between parts 36 and 38 effectivelyreduces the transmission of sound or other vibration from one room toanother.

The opposite sides of partition 40 are secured to the opposite parts 26and 2S of the studs and to the opposite parts 36 and 38 of thehorizontal sills by any suitable means, not shown.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced a simple,inexpensive and effective sound-proof construction which can beincorporated in its entirety, in new buildings and the part of whichshown in Figs. 2 and 3 can be incorporated in the process of remodelingwhich usually involves new partitions.

What l claim is:

l. In a building construction a girder formed of a lower body portionand an upper body portion, a layer of sound insulation therebetween,there being a notch formed in top of said upper body portion forreceiving sound insulating material, a first vertical stud formed of arst vertical strip supported by said upper portion to one side of saidnotch and a second vertical strip supported by said upper body portionto the other side of said notch, and a vertical strip of soundinsulating material located between said strips and registering with thesound insulating in said notch.

2. The structure recited in claim l and a horizontal disposed stillformed of a third strip secured to said first strip, a fourth stripsecured to said second strip and a layer of sound insulating materialbetween said third and fourth strips and registering with the insulatingstrip between said first and second strips of said vertical stud.

(References on following page) References Cited inthe le of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS Jaspert Dec. 3, 1929 Hoffman Dec. 2, 1941 FosterDec.`22, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 23, 1937 Great BritainJan. 27, 1939 Great Britain uly 26, 1949

